I play alto saxophone and I am an advanced beginner. I have purchased many cane reeds in the recent past, as a part of my path of discovery to find a nice sounding reed with which I could develop my tone and technique.
This is my first experience with Silverstein synthetic reeds.
I was initially reluctant to purchase it because of the expense and for the fact that I was not sure how bright it would be – I did not desire to end up owning an expensive reed that sounded too thin and that I was not ultimately happy with. Once it arrived however, I realised that I had made the right decision ! For my tastes, it is a really gorgeous sounding reed which possesses a lovely, even tonal depth in the bottom registers, right up into the altissimo range. I find it also has a fantastic playability.
The reed has an initial setting up procedure that the manufacturer recommends is completed before you first begin playing it. This process involves soaking the reed in water for about 30 seconds and then pairing the reed with your mouthpiece for about 15 minutes, by pressing and holding the reed and mouthpiece together so that their contours are ‘married’. This is a procedure that is only done one time during the reeds lifetime.
Another characteristic of this reed that makes me smile LOTS, is its overtones/ harmonics content. This is what makes the reed very rich sounding across its entire tonal range, and with just the right amount of added brightness, it is the reed that I will be using as I develop and improve my sound.
My impression is that it is well constructed too and I have no doubts that although it is an expensive reed, I think it will be have been a good investment in terms of its durability and life expectancy (plus potential savings on cane reeds purchases that are not always reliable, with inconsistent value for money).
As a comparison, I had initially purchased the Ambipoly Classic Alto, but I found this its sound was a bit too rounded and warm, with not enough brightness for my tastes. However, I was feeling very brave and I took a chance on making my own adjustments to the reed (even with such an expensive purchase) by doing a little bit of careful reed shaving, so that I increased its sound to be a little brighter. So now, I have two Silverstein Ambipoly reeds – one Classic and one Jazz.
Overall, I am truly delighted that I have discovered this Silverstein Ambipoly Jazz Alto reed 2.0. I am really enjoying playing this lovely reed and look forward each day to playing and practicing with it on my alto sax.
Recommended !!
